Jimmie Johnson Wins the 48th Annual AAA 400 Drive for Autism

On the final Re-start Kyle Larson choose the outside allowing Jimmie Johnson the inside and this may have cost him the win. In this photo and during an earlier start Larson was repeatedly able to handle Johnson and would take a solid lead and build on it after making the turns in 1 and 2. Dean Patton Sports Photography.

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Dover, DE - RIS - Okay, where do I start? Well, the weather was great….. if I could end here I probably would, but…… can’t do it. The total class of the field for the 48th Annual AAA 400 Drive for Autism, Kyle Larson, has to settle for second in the end. Why, well with a mere six laps remaining and Larson leading the field by a ton, David Ragan, lost control and took some of the wall with him in his #33 Overton Ford. This little mishap brings out the Yellow and now the fans, both Jimmie Johnson fans and those who were not stood, note they were not sitting for this re-start. 

All day long Larson took on all comers, and dismantled each as they stepped up to the plate. On this restart mind you he pitching to Johnson, who is no slouch by any body’s measure. Fans standing, heart beating it just looks like the entire start is done in slow motion. The pack comes off of turn four and Johnson edges to the front and as they pass the flag stand it’s Johnson who is in command. You hear the grown coming from the stands as they enter turn one. 

The fans know that Larson was strong and expected him to come along side of Johnson and retake the lead. They traveled down the back stretch and entered the turns in three and four. Then the bottom falls out and eight cars decide to attempt to move to the front in one lap… after wadding up those cars, NASCAR Officials call a stop and announce Jimmie Johnson the win after leading a mere one lap….. the last one!

Jimmie Johnson had to start from the rear to today due to a late change in the gearing in hisLowe’s Chevrolet #48. He worked hard for it, and received much help with Yellow Flags throughout the day and ended this day a victor. So we can say that Miles the Monster reached out of the Dover Concrete and grabbed Kyle Larson ending a great run…….

Not to take away from Jimmie Johnson and his team, in thirty-three starts at Dover International Speedway he has come away the winner in eleven of them. For the season the team has already won three times and has five top ten finishes for the 2017 campaign in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Kyle Larson hashes also posted his eighth top ten finish for the 2017 season, and finished second un-officially. Martin Truex, Jr finished third in his Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota #78. Ryan Newman brought his #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet home in fourth. Fifth place finisher was Chase Elliott in the NAPA Chevrolet #24.

Sixth place went to the highest finishing rookie Daniel Suarez in his #19 Stanley Toyota. Jammie McMurray brought home the McDonald’s Chevrolet #1 in seventh. The chauffeur of the eighth place finisher was Denny Hamlin driving the #11 FedEX Express Toyota. Kevin Harvick ended the day in ninth while wheeling the Jimmy John’s Ford. To round out the top ten we go to Danika Patrick who drove the #10 Aspen Dental Ford to a good finish at Dover.

Allin all, the fans had a great day at Dover, if you are a Jimmie Johnson Fan you had a great day, and if not, well, hey….. you definitely watched one whale of a race and got a great start on your Summer tan. Remember, the race finish is still un-official until NACAR gets to finish all it’s check and deals it so, but until then this is how they have the top ten listed, and my take on the action. See you at the track.

Unofficial Race Results for the 48Th Annual Aaa 400 Drive For Autism - Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Status, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts
1) 14, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 406, 5, 2, 55, Running, 2, 7, 5
2) 5, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 406, 2, 5, 50, Running, 6, 241,
3) 2, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, 406, 1, 1, 54, Running, 3, 102, 2
4) 13, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 406, , , 33, Running, 1, 1,
5) 16, Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 406, , 7, 36, Running, , ,
6) 3, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota, 406, 10, , 32, Running, , ,
7) 19, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald's Chevrolet, 406, , , 30, Running, 1, 2,
8) 10, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 406, , , 29, Running, , ,
9) 18, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford, 406, 3, 6, 41, Running, , ,
10) 31, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Aspen Dental Ford, 406, , , 27, Running, , ,
11) 11, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 406, , , 26, Running, , ,
12) 9, Austin Dillon, No. 3 AAA Chevrolet, 406, , , 25, Running, , ,
13) 4, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 ToyotaCare Toyota, 406, 4, 3, 39, Running, , ,
14) 21, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 406, , , 23, Running, 1, 27,
15) 7, Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, 405, 8, 9, 27, Accident, , ,
16) 1, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Pedigree Petcare Toyota, 405, 9, 4, 30, Running, 2, 19,
17) 20, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet, 404, 6, 10, 26, Accident, , ,
18) 24, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 404, , , 19, Accident, , ,
19) 28, Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, 404, , , 18, Running, 1, 4,
20) 36, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 DelawareOfficeofHwySftyPrtctYrMln Chev, 403, , , 0, Running, , ,
21) 17, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 402, , , 16, Accident, , ,
22) 35, Cole Whitt, No. 72 Chevrolet, 402, , , 15, Accident, , ,
23) 29, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Maxwell House Max Chevrolet, 402, , , 14, Running, , ,
24) 32, Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 Addiction Campuses Toyota, 402, , , 13, Running, , ,
25) 26, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 402, , , 12, Running, , ,
26) 34, * Ryan Sieg(i), No. 83 JAS Expedtited Trucking Toyota, 400, , , 0, Running, , ,
27) 39, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Hulu Chevrolet, 400, , , 10, Running, , ,
28) 37, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 Chevrolet, 398, , , 0, Running, , ,
29) 25, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Can-Am/Kappa Ford, 397, , , 8, Running, , ,
30) 33, David Ragan, No. 38 Overton's Ford, 393, , , 7, Accident, , ,
31) 22, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 391, , , 6, Running, , ,
32) 15, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 373, 7, 8, 12, Running, , ,
33) 23, Paul Menard, No. 27 Duracell/Menards Chevrolet, 343, , , 4, Accident, , ,
34) 30, Regan Smith(i), No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 329, , , 0, Accident, , ,
35) 38, * Cody Ware, No. 51 ECU Pirates Chevrolet, 283, , , 2, Handling, , ,
36) 27, Landon Cassill, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 257, , , 1, Accident, , ,
37) 6, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 93, , , 1, Accident, , ,
38) 8, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Wurth Ford, 66, , , 1, Accident, , ,
39) 12, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Little Hug Ford, 62, , , 1, Accident, 1, 3,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; (#) Rookie; (*) non-charter team

Total Race Length - 406 Laps - 406 Miles; Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 52 Mins, 06 Secs; Average Speed: 104.955 MPH; Margin of Victory: Caution

Race Comments: Jimmie Johnson won the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway, his 83rd Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following car dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 48 (rear gear change).

Caution Flags: 15 for 72 laps: Laps: 18-21 (#83 Spin in Turn 2 [33]); 48-52 (#17 Incident in Turn 3 [72]); 63-65 (#17 Incident on the frontstretch [15]); 67-70 (#2 and 41 Incident in Turn 1 [33]); 97-104 (#14 Incident in Turn 1 [33]); 122-127 (Stage 1 Conclusion [33]); 147-150 (#10 Spin in Turn 4 [33]); 195-198 (#22 Incident in Turn 3 [47]); 219-222 (#34 Incident in Turn 2 [10]); 242-247 (Stage 2 Conclusion [15]); 265-268 (Debris on  frontstretch [27]); 331-338 (#43 Incident in Turn 2 [42]); 345-348 (#27 and 37 Incident in Turn 2 [77]); 398-404 (#38 Incident in Turn 2 [20]); 406-406 (#1, 3, 6, 5, 14, 47, 31, 72 and 77 Incident on the frontstretch [None]).

Lead Changes: 17 among 9 drivers: Kyle Busch 1-18; R. Stenhouse Jr. 19-21; M. Truex Jr. 22-49; K. Larson 50-80; M. Truex Jr. 81-122; K. Larson 123-146; M. McDowell 147-150; K. Larson 151-194; Kyle Busch 195; K. Larson 196-211; M. Truex Jr. 212-243; K. Larson 244-326; J. McMurray 327-328; J. Johnson 329-332; R. Newman 333; T. Dillon # 334-360; K. Larson 361-403; J. Johnson 404-406.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kyle Larson, #42  
Coors Light Pole Award: Kyle Busch, #18 158.954 mph

Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Denny Hamlin, #11 6 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #42

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kyle Larson, #42  
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Jimmie Johnson, #48 crew chief Chad Knaus, -0.142 seconds

Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Kyle Busch, #18  
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Daniel Suarez, #19